Asian Beat: Volume 1Review

This is the third book in as many months that I've reviewed by Hakase Mizuki, and truth be told, I'm growing a bit weary of them. It's not that they're horrible, or that you should avoid them like the plague, but mainly that there's a same-ness to them all that doesn't elevate one particular story above the others. Both Demon Flowers and Ba-Ku dealt with different types of familial dysfunction, and Asian Beat continues that trend, albeit with less of an eye for the fantastical and a bit more realistic storytelling. That doesn't mean that things have necessarily improved, or really gotten worse&#Array;just that the setting has changed.

When you see "heartbreaking" used to describe two of your different works, it's a slight hint that as a creator or a reader, you might be heading down familiar territory, and that's certainly the feeling I got once I started reading Asian Beat. In "The Town Where Snow Falls" two recent victims of breakups attempt to gain some kind of solace with each other, both realizing that their "relationship" is doomed from the beginning. There's certainly an audience for Mizuki's loose, free-flowing type of storytelling, but it does make for difficult reading, particularly when characters are given a very limited emotional range. Of the three books I've read of Mizuki's, I've come across the cool, aloof loner, the tough but troubled victim, and the occasional "cute" character. There's been very little variation between those stereotypes, and by the time I reached Asian Beat's collection of the same-old same-old, I began to wonder if I could ever expect anything different from this writer.

The artwork in Asian Beat is good, provided you're already a fan of Mizuki's style. There are few backgrounds, and often a huge panel will be devoted to little more than an unexpressive face. In many cases, it can be argued that that's the point&#Array;these characters have such an emptiness in their lives it's pointless to try and fill a panel with anything that would illustrate that. At least, that's what I'd like to believe about it, but the cynic in me keeps saying there's just an artist creating Barbie faces over and over again and putting some word balloons above them. It's up to you, the reader, to determine which concept is the correct one. After three books, I'm not sure even I know anymore.